When you hear a man from the central belt singing about blood and urine and snow it’s all too easy to conclude that we are swirling around in sub-Arab Strap territory. But move away from the red and yellow and white substances of ‘Under the Stairs’ and you’ll discover a vastly more eclectic record than those Falkirk chroniclers of urban decay and spiritual loss ever managed.
While the opening tracks drop unexpected hints of Elliott Smith and Pet Shop Boys fascinations, the De Rosa boys reach their own voice-finding zenith with the gorgeous ‘Stillness’ and the heartbreaking ‘It Helps to See You Hurt’. There should be nothing to stop Prevention from climbing some lofty peaks. [4/5]
BRIAN DONALDSON
MOJO
Thirty months in the making, Prevention sees this fastidious Glaswegian quintet build upon Mend, a darkly beautiful, Lanarkshire-set debut that wowed MOJO in 2006. The follow-up is equally engrossing, linchpin Martin John Henry singing bleak, poetic lyrics in a voice that has lots of his label-mate Aidan Moffat's parochial candour - and some of Neil Young's tremulous yearning. Pleasingly, Prevention trumps Mend for sonic ambition, De Rosa imbuing their future-folk with with more electronic elements, harnessing the talismanic power of a choir part-comprised of friends and family, and soliciting guest-spots from the likes of Mogwai's Barry Burns (piano). Only the ace if gently harrowing Pest offers a fleeting glimmer of levity ("Desire creeps on my back like a rat/I doubt Rentakill handle that"), but like Frightened rabbit, De Rosa deal in a fabulously stirring strain of realism. [4/5]
JAMES McNAIR
ROCKSOUND
The agonising wait for the follow-up to De Rosa's debut 'Mend' is finally over. The tinkling electronics of 'Nocturne For An Absentee' hint towards a Scottish Postal Service, while the lament of 'Pest' offers acoustic-driven food for thought and 'A Love Economy' escalates into a superb torrent of mixed emotions. Delicate and powerful, conveying great pride in their roots every step of the way, De Rosa's melodies are both charming and bittersweet, and despite the melancholy nature of these offerings, a certain sense of hope lingers within the verses. Rich strings and acoustic beauties, soft ivories and precious vocals are conveyed through thought-provking song. A very special release indeed. [8/10]
EMILY KEARNS
INDEPENDENT ON SATURDAY
Lanarkshire's finest continue to stake out a middle ground between regional folk and post-punk experiment on their second album. Martin Henry's lyrics straddle scuffed, poetic, oblique intimacies and resilient melancholy; the backing, meanwhile, finds room for discreet electronic layers and piano. This is simultaneously lived-in and artful terrain, and they walk it well. [4/5]
KEVIN HARLEY
www.americana-uk.com
The sound of young Scotland
If you gathered together most of Scotland’s finest current musical talent - Mogwai, James Yorkston, King Creosote, Frightened Rabbit - and distilled the best parts you’d come up with something not dissimilar to Lanark’s De Rosa. Thickly textured songs (much crunchier than their debut) seething with emotion, dense instrumentation that swirls together post-rock and folk along with the diced fruit of electronica, it makes for an intense experience. ‘It Helps to See You Hurt’ blends all of this and more into one song without it being overburdened, from crescendos built on layers of instrumentation to piano and vocal interludes and to the sort of chorus that Fugazi would build, it is powerful stuff: they grasp hold of the dynamics of songwriting and give them a good shake.
Other bands that I’m reminded of are American Football and Joan of Arc for the texture and the way that the vocals are tightly interwoven with the music, not separate from it. All the elements of ‘Flight Recorder’ are melded closely together as it gathers and releases tension, layering and shedding instruments as the song dictates. Another Scottish touchpoint would be the Delgados, a darker version perhaps but the way that songs have distinct passages such as ‘Tinto’ with acoustic guitar and solo voice then a heavy choir of vocals with transitional passages that transfer us beautifully from passion to aggression are reminiscent of the Delgados at their best. It is the mixture of passion and discipline that gives the songs substance. Whilst they steamroller you, you are still tickled by the detail and subtlety that are also in them, like finding delicate fossils fused into huge slabs of rock. It makes a mockery of the veneration of Glasvegas as the great hope of Scottish music. De Rosa are more articulate, better musicians and better songwriters. As I’ve suggested this is the perfect summation of contemporary Scottish music and good enough to make an impact on the world stage. [8/10]
DAVID COWLING